


Hell or High Water

by CreativWit



Series: The Writing Corner Bingo Event (CreativWit) [3]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: A bit of shapeshifter!Jaskier, Bingo, Dehydration, Eskel Has Self-Esteem Issues (The Witcher), Eskel Whump (The Witcher), Gen, He's very dramatic in this, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Not important but I thought you should know, Prompt Fill, Protective Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Protective Jaskier | Dandelion, Protective Lambert (The Witcher), Protective Witchers (The Witcher), Rescue, Starvation, The Writing Corner Bingo Event
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29269170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativWit/pseuds/CreativWit
Summary: Kidnapped before the first snowfall of the winter, Eskel loses all hope of surviving and ever making it back to his family. He underestimated just how much his family cares.Prompt 3 for The Writing Corner Bingo Event: "You came all this way...for me?"
Relationships: Eskel & Aiden, Eskel & Coën, Eskel & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Eskel & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Lambert, Eskel & Jaskier | Dandelion & Lambert, Eskel & Lambert (The Witcher), Eskel & Vesemir, Eskel & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: The Writing Corner Bingo Event (CreativWit) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147130
Comments: 13
Kudos: 61





	Hell or High Water

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here is the third bingo prompt for The Writing Corner Bingo Event. This actually gives me a bingo, which I hadn't noticed until I finished writing, haha! Either way, I hope you guys still enjoy it!

_The small village just outside Ard Carraigh always creeped him out. The way the townsfolk looked at him...they never glared, never stared, but they always gave him this odd feeling. They seemed to scrutinize him, not for the sake of mocking his appearance, but as if they were searching for something. A weakness, maybe, or a flaw in his design. He clamped down on his unease and continued forward. He'd been in hostile villages before. This was no different. He just had to make his way out of the town. The Trail wasn't too far from here. He was so close..._

If the tap in the corner dripped one more time, Eskel was going to lose his fucking mind.

_Drip._

Oh, fuck this.

Over the time he'd been there, the owners must have hosted at least one party a day. The sounds of music and laughter assaulted his ears morning and night, even though he was far from the source. Some of the guards must have carried food past his cell door several times just to tease him because the aroma of a well-cooked feast made his stomach grumble, despite the last banquet having ended hours ago.

"A party a day until Yule!" a guard had exclaimed cheerfully, dragging the hilt of his sword across the bars of Eskel's cell as he spoke. The loud clanging rattled Eskel's eardrums, and it was all the seasoned witcher could do to not flinch.

This place was a fucking sensory overload nightmare.

Truthfully, he remembered very little as to how he got here, chained and broken in a cell below a manor of a Northern noble. He'd been so _close,_ that much he could recall. Eskel closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the stone wall behind him, trying to fit all the pieces back into place. A frigid draft of winter air slipped through his cell's walls.

_The snow bit at his face as he stood at Scorpion's side, looking up the mountain from the foot of the Trail. In the distance, hidden behind dark clouds hosting an incoming blizzard, Kaer Morhen undoubtedly stood tall. He imagined the warm fireplaces roaring, the feast Vesemir would have laid out for them all upon their return. He could almost feel the embraces of his brothers, of Jaskier, of Vesemir, and the mages. Eskel closed his eyes. Soon._

Eskel groaned, bringing his knees up slightly as he shifted in his spot. Besides his ass being numb from sitting on the cold, hard ground for so long, Eskel's arms ached from their shackled point above his head. His torso, littered with bruises, protested at every twitch or breath. He might have a broken rib or two, but what did it matter if he did?

He wasn't getting out of here. His head throbbed, still recuperating from the last party his captors threw. He was in no shape to break free. He barely had the strength to keep his head up. His stomach growled persistently, reminding him of all the food nearby but none in front of him. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. Fuck, no. Crying was not an option, not here.

Eskel longed to be _anywhere_ but here. No, that's not true. He didn't want to be just "anywhere." There was only one place on the Continent he wanted to be right now. The problem? He was who knows how far from it. Thoughts of Kaer Morhen flooded his mind. The desire to be in front of the library fire, stuffed full from a welcoming feast and surrounded by his family, grew stronger with every passing second. 

_Drip._

That wasn't the tap this time.

Eskel glanced down at the tear that managed to slip unbidden from his eyes, falling down his cheek before landing on the ground. He closed his eyes again and sighed. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with his family. He wanted to relax and unwind for the winter. He wanted a lot of things.

He couldn't get any of them.

A shaky sigh broke through his attempts to restrain himself, a broken sound in the otherwise silent dungeon. What a dishonorable death. Chained by dimeritium, shackled to the walls of a miserable cell, starved and dehydrated. So unbecoming of a witcher. He resigned himself to a slow fate, likely a painful one. He wondered distantly if anyone noticed he never made it up the mountain, if they even cared.

_He opened his eyes again, preparing to start his trek up the Trail. The journey would tire him, of that he had no doubt, but the exhaustion never overcame the sheer relief of coming home._

_He caught the scent of an attacker too late, the subtle shift in the wind behind him and the faint sound of air breaking as an object swung toward him. Scorpion pranced to the side, a startled neigh being the last thing Eskel heard as a solid weapon collided with the back of his head with enough force to knock him out immediately._

_And to think all he wanted was to go home._

In the distance, Eskel could hear...a _roar?_ Screaming followed shortly after, quickly silenced by the sudden cracks of bones snapping. Eskel tensed, jerking at his chains in a desperate attempt to free himself. That roar...a long, drawn-out noise that found itself more similar to a sleepy groan. Even still, the sound echoed in Eskel's ears, piercing despite originating from far off on the other side of the manor.

A lion. There was no doubt about it. Eskel couldn't think of another animal that had the same roar, the same volume and reach. But lions weren't native to the North, nowhere near it, in fact. How could there possibly-?

No way.

Eskel stopped fighting against his restraints, head snapping to his cell gate as footsteps thudded down the hallway. Familiar scents reached him before his new visitors did, the combining smells of sandalwood and a hint of smoke doing more to relax him than a long dip in Kaer Morhen's hot springs would. Tears threatened to spill again, but he fought back the urge. No reason to cry now.

Geralt and Lambert skidded to a halt in front of his cell door, anger and worry prominent on their faces as they caught sight of Eskel chained to the wall. Lambert growled to himself, fists clenching around the bars as Geralt turned to the side and yelled,

"Jaskier!"

Sure enough, a large lion came bounding forward, bronze eyes staring directly at Eskel as it stopped in front of the cell door. Before Eskel could say a single word, the lion was backing up to the other side of the hall, body features morphing and swapping color to that of a bull as it charged forward. Jaskier bowed his head and rammed into the cell door, sending it flying to the opposite end of the room. Eskel flinched at the loud clanging of metal against stone, but he couldn't focus too much on it, not when three worried faces crowded around him.

"Oh, Eskel," Jaskier cooed softly, finally morphed into his human form than an animal. His eyes roamed up and down Eskel's body, no doubt itching to lift his shirt and take stock of Eskel's injuries. 

Geralt held no such reservations, pulling up the hem of Eskel's shirt as Lambert reached over to cut away at the dimeritium bindings. As soon as Eskel's arms were down, he hissed at the soreness from keeping them in such an awkward position for so long. Jaskier shifted the two of them until he was at Eskel's back, carefully massaging his tense muscles. Over Eskel's shoulder, Jaskier asked,

"How bad?"

"Bruises," Geralt replied stiffly, clearly fighting the urge to go back and wreak havoc on Eskel's captors. "Maybe broken or bruised ribs. Eskel?"

Eskel…wasn't listening. The reality of the situation was beginning to dawn on him. It was winter, far enough in that the pass to the keep would be sealed. If they came down from Kaer Morhen, came to rescue him, then...

Eskel lifted his eyes tiredly, taking in the frowns of his brothers' faces. "You came all this way...for me?"

For a moment, no one moved. Jaskier pretty much stopped breathing at Eskel's back. Geralt and Lambert simply stared at him, eyes wide and confused. Lambert reacted first.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he snapped, eyebrows drawing in angrily and a scowl crossing his face. Geralt hummed in agreement, facial features nearly mirroring Lambert's own.

"Of _course_ , we did, love," Jaskier murmured by Eskel's ear, sounding a bit more choked up than he ought to. "You didn't show up to the keep, and when we got the message from Lambert over Yen's xenovox that he found Scorpion alone and your blood on the ground, we thought the worst."

Eskel swallowed thickly, grimacing at the dryness of his throat. "But...Kaer Morhen? You were already _there._ You were warm, safe. The pass is closed now."

Geralt huffed, a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. He pinned Eskel with an irate glare. "We don't give a fuck about that, Eskel. Yen is here. She'll portal us back. You were more important."

More important...more important than their safety. More important than their comfort. More important than their _own lives._ They found Eskel more important than their own wishes and desires, and risked their lives to come find him.

Lambert sighed, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. You really are a dumbass, you know that?" He came closer, gently taking one of Eskel's arms over his shoulders and wrapping one of his own around Eskel's waist. "Come on. Aiden, Coën, and Yen are waiting for us in the dining hall."

"...all of them?"

"Yes," Geralt groaned, taking up Eskel's other side. Together, they lifted Eskel up, supporting him when his legs failed to cooperate after sitting motionless for so long. Jaskier followed suit, trailing after them. "We all came. Ves and Triss are waiting back at the keep."

"Probably going to spoil you rotten," Jaskier teased. Eskel could practically hear the grin on the bard's face.

"Oh, like you won't," Lambert snarked back, but his tone held no malice.

"I will wholeheartedly admit that I have a very meticulous itinerary laid out for him. A nice, warm dip in the hot springs...I'll wash his hair, offer a massage afterward. Though the massage isn't optional."

Eskel bit back a smile, focusing all his attention on putting one foot in front of the other. For all his barely-restrained excitement at the prospect of going home, his body threatened to give out on him at any moment. Each step pulled at his bruises and broken ribs. He wanted nothing more than to submit to Jaskier's doting. He wouldn't even argue this time.

Geralt glanced at him from his peripheral vision. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Eskel let out an amused breath through his nose. "Better now."

Seemingly satisfied with that response, Geralt quirked a quick smile before letting it fade. The four of them made their way into the dining hall, where, sure enough, Aiden, Coën, and Yennefer awaited them. Bodies littered the floor, but the lingering scents from the past buffets overpowered the stench of death and flooded Eskel's nose, eliciting a loud growl from his stomach that had everyone's faces darkening.

"They didn't even fucking feed him," Aiden snarled, kicking the corpse of a noble at his feet. 

Coën sighed, an aggravated sound as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It'll be fine. Vesemir has dinner ready for him. He can eat while Triss looks him over."

Yennefer took a few steps forward, bringing herself to Eskel's front. She ran a scrutinizing gaze over him before asking, "Are you good to portal?"

Eskel nodded. Even if he wasn't, he'd power through it. He wanted nothing more than to go home. If it meant suffering through the nausea and discomfort of portaling, then he'd do it. No doubt about it. 

Yennefer must've seen that in his eyes - or maybe she read his mind - because she said nothing else. Instead, she turned and summoned the portal near Coën and Aiden, the thundering boom startling the two witchers. She merely smirked at them, ignoring their withering glares as they followed her through. Jaskier moved around the three brothers, giving Eskel a soft smile before walking through the portal as well.

Geralt and Lambert hesitated. For a moment, neither said anything, but then Lambert's grip on Eskel tightened, just as Geralt muttered,

"Hold onto us."

Like Eskel had been planning on letting go.

Together, they walked through the portal, letting it shut behind them. Eskel could scarcely believe his eyes, barely paying any mind to the ensuing dizziness as he took in the warmth of the library's blazing fireplace. No one else but Vesemir was in the room, likely having left to do something or another. The smell of fresh roast boar and steamed vegetables wafted from the table in front of the couch. Eskel fought the urge to sigh. Home.

Vesemir stood from his spot in his favorite armchair, coming to Eskel. He placed a hand on the back of Eskel's neck, lowering his head to touch Eskel's. They breathed each other in, grounding themselves in the familiarity.

"It's good to have you home, pup," Vesemir whispered.

"It's good to be home."

Vesemir stepped away from him, a warm smile crossing his face. He jerked his chin in the direction of the couch and what Eskel assumed to be his dinner. "Set him down, boys."

Geralt and Lambert complied instantly, bringing him over to the couch and gingerly lowering him onto the seat. Instead of leaving like Eskel expected them to, they both sat down on either side of him, sitting much closer than any of them were used to. No one said anything about it.

Coën and Aiden came back into the room, a mug of water in the griffin's hand and a platter of honey buns in the cat's. Eskel's stomach threatened to growl again.

"Thank you," he murmured as they set their gifts on the table. 

Coën waved him off, while Aiden winked. "Don't worry about it, wolf," the griffin replied, smiling kindly. He and Aiden stepped away, leaving the wolves alone in the library again.

Vesemir hummed. "Jaskier left to get things prepared for you. Yennefer should be coming back with Triss soon. Eat your dinner, Eskel. You still have a long night ahead of you."

Eskel laughed quietly. A long night, huh? A long night of being taken care of, pampered, doted on, _loved?_ Compared to the nights he thought he would have to face - nights of starvation, dehydration, sensory overload - the idea of being cherished didn't sound so bad.

"Thank you," Eskel murmured, avoiding his brothers' eyes, "for coming."

Two weights settled against his sides, a head on each shoulder. Geralt's hand intertwined with Eskel's. Lambert wrapped an arm around Eskel's waist, squeezing his hip gently.

"Always," Geralt hummed in response.

"Now eat," Lambert demanded, "before your food gets cold."

"Yes, mother," Eskel joked, chuckled when Lambert lightly swatted his thigh, mindful of the bruises.

Eskel knew he was in for a long night before he could finally rest in his bed. But a night surrounded by his family? He couldn't think of anything better than that.


End file.
